Pellet smoker

ABSTRACT

A floor and an upright sidewall formed from two vertically coaxial components, each component having a floor baffle with a plurality of floor openings defined therein, each floor retained within a respective upright sidewall with a plurality of sidewall openings defined therein. The floor openings and the sidewall openings cooperate between the two coaxial components such that flow of gases through the floor and upright sidewall of the baffle structure is controlled by rotation of the two vertically coaxial components relative to one another.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED CASES

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 62/745,050, filed on Oct. 12, 2018, andincorporates such provisional application by reference into thisdisclosure as if fully set out at this point.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates to solid fuel cooking in general and, moreparticularly, to systems for cooking using solid fuel pellets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior outdoor wood pellet fired cooking and smoking appliances aredescribed, among other places, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,823,684 and5,251,607, both to Joseph Traeger, et al. Some improvements andvariations of these products may have been made but their essentialprincipal of operation remains the same. An electrically driven augertransports small compressed wood pellets from an exterior hopper to acombustion chamber or firepot (typically cylindrical and/or having anopen top). The combustion chamber or firepot is supplied with combustionair pressurized and driven by an exterior fan through ductwork to anarea surrounding the firepot and then though holes in the exterior ofthe firepot feeding air into the combustion space. The hot gas from thefirepot is conveyed to a cooking grate placed above the firepot.

Wood pellet smoking and cooking appliances may be used to cook meat,often in large pieces such as roasts or briskets. Such cuts of meat mayrequire sustained periods of cooking (on the order of hours) at low tomoderate temperatures such as 200° F. to 400° F. Also, cool smoking attemperatures lower than 200° F. can be practiced. Since there is adesire to accommodate a significant quantity of meat, the size of thecooking area may be between 400 and 500 square inches. To provide evencooking across the cooking grate, a set of baffles may be placed abovethe firepot. These baffles may be optimized to produce a relatively lowthermal intensity in terms of energy output per unit of area.

Using appliances having a relatively large cooking area (common in themarketplace) it may become very difficult to obtain such higher thermalintensities as may be desired for grilling over short periods of time(on the order of minutes) simply by upsizing, or by more rapidly runningthe auger feed from the pellet hopper. Such difficulty is, first of all,based on the problem of evenly distributing heat from a concentratedheat source (e.g., a single firepot), to a large, typically rectangular,cooking area without absorbing or losing too much heat in the bafflestructure necessary to accomplish this. A second difficulty, from acommercial point of view, is the expense of scaling up the auger driveand combustion air fan delivery and firepot structure. Also, alarge-scale, high thermal intensity, fire systems struggle deliveringthe cool smoking feature in currently available designs. Thus, it hasremained the case that most such pellet appliances described do notperform well for grilling, particularly in providing high cooking gratetemperatures to create searing action on the exterior of the food.

What is needed is a device and system for addressing the above, andrelated, issues.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention of the present disclosure, in one aspect thereof,comprises a dual component baffle structure for use in a smoker. Thestructure has a floor and an upright sidewall formed from two verticallycoaxial components, each component having a floor baffle with aplurality of floor openings defined therein, each floor retained withina respective upright sidewall with a plurality of sidewall openingsdefined therein. The floor openings and the sidewall openings cooperatebetween the two coaxial components such that flow of gases through thefloor and upright sidewall of the baffle structure is controlled byaxial rotation of the two vertically coaxial components relative to oneanother.

The baffle structure may have at least one configuration where gases areadmitted through the floor openings and blocked by the sidewallopenings, and at least one configuration where gases are blocked by thefloor openings and admitted through the sidewall openings. The bafflestructure may have at least one configuration where gases are admittedthrough the floor openings and through the sidewall openingssimultaneously. In some embodiments, at least one of the floor and theupright sidewall have a partially open configuration.

The baffle structure may further comprise a set of legs or other supportstructure affixed to a lower one of the two coaxial components forelevating the baffle structure above a firepot in a firebox. The bafflestructure may further comprise a mid baffle affixed vertically along amedial portion of the sidewall of an upper one of the two coaxialcomponents.

The sidewalls of each of the two vertically coaxial components maycomprise a circumferential portion having no sidewall openings definedtherein. The sidewall openings on each of the two vertically coaxialcomponents may comprise a checkerboard pattern in the respectivesidewall.

The invention of the present disclosure, in another aspect thereof,comprises a cooking appliance with a cooking grate supported over a firebox having a firepot contained therein that burns solid pelletized fuelfed from an auger running from outside the firebox. The applianceincludes a baffle structure arranged above the firepot and having anupper component nested coaxially within lower component with the upperand lower components rotatable with respect to one another. The uppercomponent has a floor defining a first plurality of floor openingstherein, the first plurality of openings being arranged in a firstpredetermined pattern on the floor of the upper component. The lowercomponent has a floor defining a second plurality of floor openingstherein, the second plurality of openings being arranged in a secondpredetermined pattern on the floor of the lower component. The uppercomponent floor rests in contact with the lower component floor and thefirst and second predetermined patterns of the respective floor openingsdefined in the respective floors are arranged such that overlap of thefirst and second plurality of openings may be selected or deselected byrotation of the upper component relative to the lower component.

In some embodiments, the upper and lower components further compriseupper and lower upright sidewalls, respectively, joining the respectivefloors. The upper and lower upright sidewalls may define a plurality ofupper sidewall openings and a plurality of lower sidewall openingsrespectively. The upper upright sidewall openings and the lower uprightsidewall openings may have a configuration such that overlap between thefirst plurality of upright sidewall openings and the second plurality ofupright sidewall openings may be selected or deselected by rotation ofthe upper component relative to the lower component.

In some cases the overlap between the first and second plurality offloor openings is selected when the overlap in the between the first andsecond plurality of upright sidewall openings is not selected. In somecases the overlap between the first and second plurality of flooropenings is not selected when the overlap in the between the first andsecond plurality of upright sidewall openings is selected.

The cooking appliance may include herein an upper component furthercomprising a mid baffle spaced apart from the upper component floor. Themid baffle may be removable to allow more easier access to the remainingparts of the baffle structure. The cooking appliance may include a setof legs or other structure supporting the baffle structure over thefirepot. The baffle structure may interpose the firepot and the cookinggrate and define a high temperature zone on the cooking grate that isactive when the overlap between the first and second plurality of flooropenings is selected.

The invention of the present disclosure, in another aspect thereof,comprises a cooking grill having a firebox with a heat source thereinand a cooking grate suspended over the heat source. The cooking grillhas a baffle having a floor and a sidewall formed from two nestedcomponents that are axially rotatable with respect to one another,rotation of the two nested components opening and closing a firstplurality of openings in the floor and a second plurality of openings inthe sidewall. The nested components are rotated to close the firstplurality of openings when the second plurality of openings is open, andvice versa. The baffle interposes the cooking grate and the heat sourceto concentrate heat on a high temperature zone of the cooking grate whenthe first plurality of openings are open, and disperses heat away fromthe heat source to an area on the cooking grate larger than the hightemperature zone when the first plurality of openings is closed.

The baffle may contain a mid baffle, which may be removable, spacedapart from the floor and supported by the sidewall. The heat source maybe a solid pellet fuel burning firepot having with forced combustion airfrom outside the firebox.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cutaway view of a smoker according to aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a baffle structure accordingto aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of another baffle structureaccording to aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of a smoker according to aspects ofthe present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1 , a cutaway view of a smoker according toaspects of the present disclosure is shown. The smoker 100 may comprisea firebox 102 with an openable lid 104. The lid 104 may be hinged andhave a handle for opening and closing as well as one or more flues orvents 250. A pellet feeding hopper system 106 can be seen where a userfeeds fuel pellets for auguring into a firepot 204 for combustion. Avent duct 206 may provide combustion air to the firepot 204, possiblyunder positive pressure. Both fuel and air supply may be usercontrollable for the amount of heat and/or smoke produced.

A cooking grate 202 may be provided within the firebox 102 on which fooditems rest while being cooked. A baffle structure 300 interposes thefirepot 204 and the cooking grate 202 as described herein. The bafflestructure 300 can be used to control the delivery of heat and combustionproducts to provide a diffuse delivery throughout the smoker 100 andcooking grate 202. It may also be configured to concentrate heat andcombustion product delivery to a smaller, and therefore highertemperature area, or high temperature cooking zone 203.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , an exploded perspective view of the bafflestructure 300 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.The baffle 300 structure is shown “exploded” for illustrative purposes.A lower portion 302 may receive a cooperating upper portion 320 when thecomponents are assembled for operation. To adjust operation of thebaffle structure 300, the upper portion 320 may be rotated with respectto the lower portion 302. The rotation may be with respect to a centralvertical axis A. Thus, the lower portion 302 and upper portion 320 maybe considered to be axially concentric (e.g., with respect to axis A).In some embodiments, a fastener attaches lower portion 302 to upperportion 320 in such a way that ability to rotate about axis A ispreserved.

In some embodiments, the lower portion 302 may be placed in a stationaryposition within the firebox 102. A support structure 304 may be providedto situate the lower portion 302 properly above the firepot 204. Asillustrated, support structure 304 comprises legs that may be tallenough and spaced apart sufficiently to pass the auger and ventilationmechanism through to the firepot 204. The baffle structure 300 may alsobe aligned coaxially to the firepot 204.

The lower portion 302 may comprise a cylindrical wall 306 having anumber of openings 310 defined in an otherwise closed portion 308. Theclosed portion 308 of the wall 306 is configured to be solid orimpermeable such that gases cannot pass therethrough. Thus, gases andcombustion products must pass through openings 310 to pass through thecylindrical wall 306. As shown, openings 310 may be multi-leveled ormulti-tiered. In other embodiments, the openings 310 might be placedonly on the upper half (or lower half) of the cylindrical wall 306 orany positioning in another configuration or manner. Openings 310 may beconfined to a certain percentage of the circumference of the wall 306.For example, openings 310 may occupy 30%, 50%, or 60% of thecircumference of the wall 306, even if some openings are “stacked” asshown. Moreover, the openings 310 may be distributed uniformly ornon-uniformly. The illustrated multi-level opening 310 may be sorted invertical columns as shown in FIG. 2 , or they may form a staggered orcheckerboard pattern, or may comprise a combination of patterns possiblyincluding multiple vertical/horizontal alignments.

Near a bottom or lower edge of the wall 306 may be a plate or domedbaffle 314, which further has a solid portion 314 interrupted by variousopenings 316. Again, the openings 316 may be restricted to a certainpercentage of the total area of the baffle 314 (e.g., 30%, 50%, 60%).

In the illustrated embodiment, the upper portion 320 nests and sitswithin the lower portion 302. The upper portion 320 may comprise acylindrical peripheral wall 322 that sits near to or in contact with thelower cylindrical wall 306 when the baffle structure 300 is assembled.In some embodiments, the upper portion 320 rests upon the baffle 324inside the lower portion 302.

The wall 322 of the upper portion 320 defines a number of openings 324that may be stacked vertically, as shown, but which may only occupy aportion of the total circumference of periphery of the wall 322. Thesizes and locations of the openings 324 may be made to correspond to thesizes and locations of the openings 310 in the lower wall 306 such thatthe openings may be aligned to allow gases therethrough. In someembodiments, the openings 310 are substantially identical in locationand size to the openings 324. In some embodiments, the openings 310, 324may be made to occupy less than half of the periphery of the respectivewall 306, 322 such that by appropriate rotation of the upper portion 320relative to the lower portion 302, passage of gases therethrough (bothwalls 306, 322) may be substantially or completely blocked. In furtherembodiments, the openings on the walls 306, 322 may be of a“checkerboard” appearance such that there is some opening on every, oralmost every, perimeter portion of the walls 306, 322 but they may stillbe rotated to open or closed positions.

The upper portion 320 may also provide a lower baffle 326 providingopenings 328 that may be configured and located to cooperate withopenings 316 in the baffle 314 of the lower portion 302. Thus, thebaffles 326, 314 may also cooperate to allow flow of gases andcombustion products, or substantially impede them.

The upper portion 320 may also provide a mid baffle 330 along somevertically medial portion thereof. The mid baffle 330 may help to ensurethat rising heat and combustion products are evenly spread over the hightemperature cooking zone 302 even with the upper portion 320 and lowerportion 302 are rotated such that heated gases and combustion productspass through. The mid baffle 330 may be removable from the upper portion320 for cleaning or other purposes.

In some embodiments, the locations of the holes 310, 324 defined in thewalls 306, 322 may be offset from the respective holes 316, 328 in thebaffles 314, 326. Thus, in operation, when the baffles 314, 326 areconfigured to admit and pass the maximum amount of heat, gas, and othercombustion products, the same are retained to a maximum degree by thewalls 306, 322 and delivered upwardly (possibly through baffle 330) tothe high temperature cooking zone 203 of the cooking grate 202. Such aconfiguration may be useful for high temperature cooking operations. Onthe other hand, when the baffles 312, 326 are rotated to reduce theamount of heat, gas, and other combustion products into the bafflestructure 300, the walls 306, 322 may be configured to allow more, or amaximum amount, of throughflow. Such a configuration will tend to spreadheat, smoke, and other combustion products to the entire cooking grate202. This may be useful for lower temperature cooking operations. Insuch case, the entire cooking grate 202 may have a similar orsubstantially similar cooking temperature such that the high temperaturecooking zone 203 may be used in a similar manner as the remainder of thecooking grate 202.

It should also be appreciated that by adjusting the locations of holes310, 324 in the walls 306, 322 relative to holes 316, 328 in the baffles312, 326 various other configurations may be selectively achievable byrotation of the upper portion 320 relative to the lower portion 302. Forexample, passages through walls 306, 322 may be closed or open whilebaffle openings may be partially open, or vice versa. It is alsopossible to arrange holes 310, 324 in the walls 306, 322 relative toholes 316, 328 in the baffles 312, 326 such that passageways throughboth walls and baffles may be simultaneously selectively partially open.

It will be appreciated that in some respects the upper portion 320 andlower portion 302 are combined to form a single baffle structure havinga floor that is openable and closeable (comprising baffles 326, 314).Similarly, a sidewall is formed (comprising walls 306, 322) that is alsoopenable and closeable. Again, the upper portion 320 and lower portion302 may be configured such that the floor or the sidewall is open butnot both together. Such operation might be termed “selective” as a usercan select which openings to utilize. It should also be understood thatwhen a floor or sidewall is “closed” that it is not necessarilycompletely sealed against all gas seepage. Rather, there is no overlapbetween the openings in the floors 326, 314 or the walls 306, 322 as thecase may be. In such case, the respective openings would be considered“closed”. It may also be said that there is no straight, non-impeded, ornon-tortured path for gases or fluids to pass through.

Thus, according to various embodiments of the present disclosure, acircular baffle structure 300 may be provided and placed generally overand around the open top of a firepot 204. This structure 300 maycomprise two concentric, generally cylindrical structures (e.g., upperportion 320 and lower portion 302) that can be rotated with respect toeach other to open or close various matching openings to alter the flowof hot gas out of the firepot 204 to the cooking grate 202. The escapinggases may thus be either spread toward the extremities of the totalcooking grate area or concentrated it in a central grilling zone 203 onthe grate 202, over the firepot 204.

In various embodiments of the present disclosure, a simple and effectiveway to vary the thermal intensity of the pellet appliance from a lowthermal intensity over a large area to a high thermal intensity over asmaller area is provided. Among the non-limiting and non-exclusivedistinguishing features of various embodiments are the symmetricalcylindrical construction that vents gas out of the sides of thecylindrical baffle structure 300 as well as the top thus spreading hotgas more effectively when the larger area is being heated. On the otherhand, gases may be substantially or completely contained to verticalmovement out of the top of the cylinder when the smaller area is beingheated. In addition, the system of overlapping openings (e.g., 310 and324 and/or 316 and 328) allows fine tuning of the relative effects aswell as the large effect given by full change from one configuration toanother.

It should be appreciated that the lower portion 302 and upper portion322 could be inverted such that the baffles 326, 314 are nearer thecooking grate than the fire pot 204. In such case, the mid baffle 330may or may not be present, or may be located elsewhere.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , an exploded perspective view of another bafflestructure 400 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.The baffle structure 400 may be used and function similarly to bafflestructure 300, and the two components have some commonality of parts andconstruction. The baffle structure 400 has an upper portion 322 thatnests into a lower portion 302 such that the components are rotatablerelative to one another about axis A. The upper portion 322 may or maynot be affixed to lower portion 302 with a rotatable fastener (notshown). Holes or openings 404, 406 are defined within the walls of upperand lower portions 322, 302, respectively. Such holes 404, 406 are morelimited in number and area than those illustrated in FIG. 3 , but theprinciple of operation is similar.

Interior baffles (e.g., 314, 326 of FIG. 6 ) are also contained withinupper portion 322 and lower portion 302 and cooperate to create anadjustable floor inside the baffle structure 400 allowing more or lesscombustion gas and heat from the fire pot 402 into the baffle structure400. Again, the upper portion 322 and lower portion 302 may beconfigured with baffles and openings such that the upper and lowerportions 322, 302, respectively may be rotated relative to one anothersuch that gas flow is substantially unimpeded from below (e.g., throughbaffles 314, 326) but halted or limited through openings 404, 406, orvice versa. In some embodiments, baffles 314, 326 are open while theopenings 404, 406 are also open. Fine tuning of the gas flow throughbaffles 314, 326 and openings 404, 406 may be accomplished by partialrotation of the upper portion 322 relative to lower portion 302.

The baffle structure 400 may also be adjustable remotely. A lever 410affixed to upper portion 322 may be provided that is movable within acooperating slot 412 defined in the lower portion 302. The lever andslot may be sized such that movement of the lever 410 entirely in onedirection opens baffles 314, 326 and closes holes 404, 406 whilemovement entirely in an opposite direction closes baffles 314, 326 andopens holes 404, 406. Movement of the lever 410 to a medial area of theslot 412 may result in partial opening of the baffles 314, 326 and theholes 404, 406.

The upper portion 322 once again contains a mid baffle 330 that may besituated medially (elevationally) within the baffle structure 400. Insome embodiments the mid baffle 330 is nearer the baffle 326 or nearerthe food grate 202. The mid baffle 330 may be situated above or belowopenings 404, or with some openings above and some below the mid baffle.The baffle structure 400 provides one or more supports 408 atpredetermined locations inside, and possibly affixed to, the upperportion 322 for locating and resting the mid baffle 330. The mid baffle330 may be removable for different cooking configurations, for cleaning,etc. A handle 402 may be provided on the mid baffle.

The baffle structure 400 also provides a support structure 450 of adifferent configuration that that shown for baffle structure 300 (FIG. 3). Here the support structure 450 is generally cylindrical and providesside panels 450 interrupted by openings 454. The side panels 450 mayvary in number and size (in concert with the openings 454) and maydefine screened areas or openings 456 within the panels 452 to furtherfine tune air and gas flow.

A bracket 458 may affix to the support structure 450, possibly centeredtherein, and be sized to cooperate with the fire pot 204 to properlycentrally locate support structure 450 and baffle structure 400 over thefire pot 402 and in the proper location below cooking grate 202.

Referring now to FIG. 4 a front perspective view of the smoker 100according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. Here,particularly where the baffle structure 400 as shown in FIG. 4 is used,the smoker 100 may have an external adjustment panel 500 for operationor adjustment of the baffle structure 400 while it is inside the smokerwithout the need to open the lid 104 and/or move the cooking grate 202.The panel may provide a slot 501 through which the lever 410 passes whenthe baffle structure 400 is in place. A separate handle 502 may also beprovided that joins to the lever 410 outside and/or inside the smoker100. The handle 502 may extend the lever 410 to a convenient locationand/or serve to insulate the lever 510 where it may be touched by a userof the smoker 100.

It is to be understood that the terms “including”, “comprising”,“consisting” and grammatical variants thereof do not preclude theaddition of one or more components, features, steps, or integers orgroups thereof and that the terms are to be construed as specifyingcomponents, features, steps or integers.

If the specification or claims refer to “an additional” element, thatdoes not preclude there being more than one of the additional element.

It is to be understood that where the claims or specification refer to“a” or “an” element, such reference is not be construed that there isonly one of that element.

It is to be understood that where the specification states that acomponent, feature, structure, or characteristic “may”, “might”, “can”or “could” be included, that particular component, feature, structure,or characteristic is not required to be included.

Where applicable, although state diagrams, flow diagrams or both may beused to describe embodiments, the invention is not limited to thosediagrams or to the corresponding descriptions. For example, flow neednot move through each illustrated box or state, or in exactly the sameorder as illustrated and described.

Methods of the present invention may be implemented by performing orcompleting manually, automatically, or a combination thereof, selectedsteps or tasks.

The term “method” may refer to manners, means, techniques and proceduresfor accomplishing a given task including, but not limited to, thosemanners, means, techniques and procedures either known to, or readilydeveloped from known manners, means, techniques and procedures bypractitioners of the art to which the invention belongs.

The term “at least” followed by a number is used herein to denote thestart of a range beginning with that number (which may be a rangerhaving an upper limit or no upper limit, depending on the variable beingdefined). For example, “at least 1” means 1 or more than 1. The term “atmost” followed by a number is used herein to denote the end of a rangeending with that number (which may be a range having 1 or 0 as its lowerlimit, or a range having no lower limit, depending upon the variablebeing defined). For example, “at most 4” means 4 or less than 4, and “atmost 40%” means 40% or less than 40%.

When, in this document, a range is given as “(a first number) to (asecond number)” or “(a first number)-(a second number)”, this means arange whose lower limit is the first number and whose upper limit is thesecond number. For example, 25 to 100 should be interpreted to mean arange whose lower limit is 25 and whose upper limit is 100.Additionally, it should be noted that where a range is given, everypossible subrange or interval within that range is also specificallyintended unless the context indicates to the contrary. For example, ifthe specification indicates a range of 25 to 100 such range is alsointended to include subranges such as 26-100, 27-100, etc., 25-99,25-98, etc., as well as any other possible combination of lower andupper values within the stated range, e.g., 33-47, 60-97, 41-45, 28-96,etc. Note that integer range values have been used in this paragraph forpurposes of illustration only and decimal and fractional values (e.g.,46.7-91.3) should also be understood to be intended as possible subrangeendpoints unless specifically excluded.

It should be noted that where reference is made herein to a methodcomprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carriedout in any order or simultaneously (except where context excludes thatpossibility), and the method can also include one or more other stepswhich are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two ofthe defined steps, or after all of the defined steps (except wherecontext excludes that possibility).

Further, it should be noted that terms of approximation (e.g., “about”,“substantially”, “approximately”, etc.) are to be interpreted accordingto their ordinary and customary meanings as used in the associated artunless indicated otherwise herein. Absent a specific definition withinthis disclosure, and absent ordinary and customary usage in theassociated art, such terms should be interpreted to be plus or minus 10%of the base value.

Thus, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects andattain the ends and advantages mentioned above as well as those inherenttherein. While the inventive device has been described and illustratedherein by reference to certain preferred embodiments in relation to thedrawings attached thereto, various changes and further modifications,apart from those shown or suggested herein, may be made therein by thoseof ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the spirit of theinventive concept the scope of which is to be determined by thefollowing claims.

1. A baffle structure for use in a smoker comprising: a floor and anupright sidewall formed from two vertically coaxial components, eachcomponent having a floor baffle with a plurality of floor openingsdefined therein, each floor retained within a respective uprightsidewall with a plurality of sidewall openings defined therein; whereinthe floor openings and the sidewall openings cooperate between the twocoaxial components such that flow of gases through the floor and uprightsidewall of the baffle structure is controlled by rotation of the twovertically coaxial components relative to one another; wherein thebaffle structure has at least one configuration where gases are admittedthrough the floor openings and substantially blocked by the sidewallopenings, and at least one configuration where gases are substantiallyblocked by the floor openings and admitted through the sidewallopenings.
 2. (canceled)
 3. The baffle structure of claim 1, having atleast one configuration where gases are admitted through the flooropenings and through the sidewall openings simultaneously.
 4. The bafflestructure of claim 1, where at least one of the floor and the uprightsidewall have a partially open configuration.
 5. The baffle structure ofclaim 1, further comprising a support structure affixed to a lower oneof the two coaxial components for elevating the smoker one above afirepot in a firebox.
 6. The baffle structure of claim 1, furthercomprising a mid baffle affixed vertically along a medial portion of thesidewall of an upper one of the two coaxial components.
 7. The bafflestructure of claim 1, wherein the sidewalls of each of the twovertically coaxial components comprise a circumferential portion havingno sidewall openings defined therein.
 8. The baffle structure of claim1, wherein the sidewall openings on each of the two vertically coaxialcomponents comprises a checkerboard pattern in the respective sidewall.9. A cooking appliance comprising, a cooking grate supported over a firebox having a firepot contained therein that burns solid pelletized fuelfed from an auger running from outside the firebox; and a bafflestructure arranged above the firepot and having an upper componentnested coaxially within lower component with the upper and lowercomponents rotatable with respect to one another; wherein the uppercomponent has a floor defining a first plurality of floor openingstherein, the first plurality of openings being arranged in firstpredetermined pattern on the floor of the upper component; wherein thelower component has a floor defining a second plurality of flooropenings therein, the second plurality of openings being arranged insecond predetermined pattern on the floor of the lower component; andwherein the upper component floor rests in contact with the lowercomponent floor and the first and second predetermined patterns of therespective floor openings defined in the respective floors are arrangedsuch that overlap of the first and second plurality of openings may beselected, deselected, or partially selected by rotation of the uppercomponent relative to the lower component; wherein the upper and lowercomponents further comprise upper and lower upright sidewalls,respectively, joining the respective floors; wherein the upper and lowerupright sidewalls define a plurality of upper sidewall openings and aplurality of lower sidewall openings respectively; wherein the upperupright sidewall openings and the lower upright sidewall openings have aconfiguration such that overlap between the first plurality of uprightsidewall openings and the second plurality of upright sidewall openingsmay be selected, deselected, or partially selected by rotation of theupper component relative to the lower component; wherein the overlapbetween the first and second plurality of floor openings is partiallyselected when the overlap in the between the first and second pluralityof upright sidewall openings is not selected; and wherein the overlapbetween the first and second plurality of floor openings is not selectedwhen the overlap in the between the first and second plurality ofupright sidewall openings is partially selected. 10-14. (canceled) 15.The cooking appliance of claim 9, wherein the upper component furthercomprises a removable mid baffle spaced apart from the upper componentfloor.
 16. The cooking appliance of claim 15, further comprising supportstructure supporting the baffle structure over the firepot.
 17. Thecooking appliance of claim 15, wherein the baffle structure interposesthe firepot and the cooking grate and defines a high temperature zone onthe cooking grate that is active when the overlap between the first andsecond plurality of floor openings is selected.
 18. A cooking grillcomprising: a firebox having a heat source therein and a cooking gratesuspended over the heat source; and a baffle having a floor and asidewall formed from two nested components that are axially rotatablewith respect to one another, rotation of the two nested componentsmoving a first plurality of openings in the floor and a second pluralityof openings in the sidewall toward opened and closed positions; whereinthe nested components are rotated to move the first plurality ofopenings to the closed position when the second plurality of openings ismoved to the open position, and vice versa; wherein the baffleinterposes the cooking grate and the heat source to concentrate heat ona high temperature zone of the cooking grate when the first plurality ofopenings are open; and wherein the baffle disperses heat away from theheat source to an area on the cooking grate larger than the hightemperature zone when the first plurality of openings is closed.
 19. Thecooking grill of claim 18, wherein the baffle contains a mid bafflespaced apart from the floor and supported by the sidewall.
 20. Thecooking grill of claim 19, wherein the heat source is a solid pelletfuel burning firepot having with forced combustion air from outside thefirebox.